Micro‐ and nanoscale structures of mesiodens dentin: Combined study of FTIR and SAXS/WAXS techniques

A mesiodens is the most common type of supernumerary tooth present in conjunction to normal dentition. A mesiodens may commonly occur in the central region of the upper or lower jaw. A mesiodens is different from normal teeth in terms of structure and shape. The aim of this study is to evaluate the micro‐ and nanoscale structural properties of mesiodens dentin by combined small‐ and wide‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Five freshly extracted, noncarious mesiodens and five normal dentin disks prepared from human incisor teeth were compared. Using FTIR, the phosphate‐to‐amide I, carbonate‐to‐phosphate, and carbonate‐to‐amide I band area ratios and the crystallinity index were quantified. SAXS/WAXS were used to study the nanostructure of mesiodens. An increase in the mineral content in the mesiodens dentin with respect to the normal group was found. Crystallinity was also significantly increased and the protein content decreased in the mesiodens dentin compared with that of normal dentin. SAXS/WAXS results revealed that mesiodens dentin has a more calcified tissue. Further, SAXS analysis revealed a nonuniform distribution of dentin fibrils in mesiodens. Microsc. Res. Tech., 78:52–58, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Cation Exchange Equilibria with Chromium (III) Species by Strong Acid Ion Exchangers

The exchange of hydrogen ions for trivalent chromium species with strongly acidic exchange resins has been investigated. The experiments comprised of systems with chromium chloride and basic chromium sulphate which are applied in leather tanning. Exchange equilibria at ambient temperature were investigated as a function of pH and total chromium concentration. Exchange strongly depends on the speciation in each system. As can be expected, with chromium chloride solutions a strong preference of chromium species occurs. However, a complete pattern is found for systems with basic chromium sulphate where chromium species are not fully preferred.     

Structural Analysis of Pyrolysis Products From Pyrolysis of Hazelnut (Corylus Avellana L.) Bagasse

Fixed-bed pyrolysis biooils of hazelnut (Corylus Avellana L.) bagasse have been identified for their structures. The condensed biooils were analyzed for their properties as fuels and compared with petroleum-derived products. The biooil was analyzed by Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and ¹H-NMR spectra. The biooils were fractionated into pentane solubles and insolubles. Pentane solubles were then solvent fractionated into pentane, toluene and methanol subfractions by fractionated column chromatograpy. The aliphatic subfractions of the biooils were then analyzed by capillary column gas-liquid chromatography (GC). In addition, the physical properties, higher heating value and elemental analysis of the biooil were determined. The empirical formula of biooil that has a heating value of 34.57 MJ/kg was established as CH_1.45O_0.33N_0.127. Chromatographic and spectroscopic studies on the biooil showed that the oil obtained from hazelnut bagasse could be used as a renewable fuel and chemical feedstock.     

A Novel MoM- and SSPE-based Groundwave-Propagation Field-Strength Prediction Simulator

Knowledge of the local groundwave-propagation characteristics is essential in wireless systems. Although Maxwell's equations establish the theoretical background, only a limited number of highly idealized groundwave-propagation problems have mathematically exact and/or approximate solutions. Therefore, semi-analytical/numerical and pure numerical simulation methods are almost the only way to handle realistic groundwave-propagation problems. To a certain extent, numerical simulators should be capable of taking non-flat, penetrable terrain and inhomogeneous atmospheric effects into account. Unfortunately, a generally applicable simulator has not yet appeared; there are many methods that have been developed under different assumptions and approximations, valid in different parameter regimes. It is therefore a challenge to apply these methods to the same physical problems, to do comparisons, and to evaluate numerical results. With all these factors in mind, a new MATLAB-based package GrMoMPE is introduced. It is first validated and calibrated, and then applied to some characteristic groundwave-propagation problems. The introduction of GrMoMPE has made it possible to do direct and accurate comparisons and reliable physical interpretations.     

Wave propagation inside a two-dimensional perfectly conducting parallel-plate waveguide: hybrid ray-mode techniques and their visualizations

This work is intended as an educational aid, dealing with high-frequency (HF) electromagnetic wave propagation in guiding environments. It is aimed at advanced senior and first-year graduate students who are familiar with the usual engineering mathematics for wave equations, especially analytic functions, contour integrations in the complex plane, etc., and also with rudimentary saddle-point (HF) asymptotics. After an introductory overview of issues and physical interpretations pertaining to this broad subject area, detailed attention is given to the simplest canonical, thoroughly familiar, test environment: a (time harmonic) line-source-excited two-dimensional infinite waveguide with perfectly conducting (PEC) plane-parallel boundaries. After formulating the Green's function problem within the framework of Maxwell's equations, alternative field representations are presented and interpreted in physical terms, highlighting two complementary phenomenologies: progressing (ray-type) and oscillatory (mode-type) phenomena, culminating in the self-consistent hybrid ray-mode scheme, which usually is not included in conventional treatments at this level. This provides the analytical background for two educational MATLAB packages, which explore the dynamics of ray fields, mode fields, and the ray-mode interplay. The first package, RAY-GUI, serves as a tool to compute and display eigenray trajectories between specified source/observer locations, and to analyze their individual contributions to wave fields. The second package, HYBRID-GUI, may be used to comparatively display range and/or height variations of the wave fields, calculated via ray summation, mode-field summation, and hybrid ray-mode synthesis.     

Susceptor-assisted fast microwave sintering of TiN reinforced SiAlON composites in a single mode cavity

In the present study, 17 wt % TiN reinforced α-β SiAlON composites were sintered at low temperature by susceptor-assisted microwave heating. The effect of TiN addition on dielectrical properties of starting powders, as well as the influence of sintering temperature on phase evolution, microstructure development and mechanical properties of α/β-SiAlON-TiN composites were investigated. The obtained results showed that TiN addition increased the microwave absorbing properties which is reflected in the peak sintering temperature. Thus, the α:β ratio decreased and mechanical properties were improved, especially the fracture toughness of the composites. Furthermore, an estimate of energy consumption during microwave assisted sintering at the laboratory scale is presented. As a result, the highest values for relative density (97.1%), Vickers hardness (13.35 ± 0.47 GPa), and fracture toughness (7.52 ± 0.54 MPa m^1/2) were obtained by microwave sintering for 30 min at 1300 °C.     

Combining functional near-infrared spectroscopy and EEG measurements for the diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

Neural Computing and Applications - Recently multimodal neuroimaging which combines signals from different brain modalities has started to be considered as a potential to improve the accuracy of...     

Application of response surface methodology with a Box–Behnken design for struvite precipitation

Struvite crystals were precipitated by the reaction of magnesium chloride hexahydrate and ammonium dihydrogen phosphate using different concentrations of citric acid as the additive (100, 300, and 500 ppm). The structure, morphology, functional groups and particle size of the crystals were evaluated experimentally by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and particle size analysis. The experimental results demonstrated that citric acid exerted a significant influence on the struvite precipitation and the crystal morphology changed from rod-like to tubular shaped with a larger size and hollow bodies. The average particle size changed from 17.60 to 33.60 μm with increasing citric acid concentration. The results of FTIR suggested that the citric acid adsorbed on the crystal surface. Following the characterization of the crystals prepared using different concentrations of citric acid, the response surface methodology coupled with Box-Behnken design were applied as a statistical tool to determine the effects of the key parameters affecting the precipitation process (temperature, pH and additive concentration) on the responses (namely, particle size and specific cake resistance of struvite). Second-order polynomial equations for both responses were improved to correlate the parameters. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed a significant quadratic regression model with high coefficients of the determination values. The optimum conditions for particle size were found to be 60 °C, pH 8 and 500 ppm additive concentration.